by The NFL’s newest kickoff rule, stating that a player can call for a fair catch and the ball will be spotted at the 25-yard line, is just the latest effort to stop kickoffs completely. In fact, it won’t be much longer until they eliminate onside kicks all together, and force teams to run an actual play of fourth and 15 to try and convert instead. All of this is an effort to stop the riskiest, most violate play and high collision play in the sport, the kickoff. We have already seen them move the touchback spot from the 20 to the 25 a few seasons back, further enticing teams to take a knee. I personally don’t think it will be much longer until they revert to the High School rule of all kicks into the endzone, even if just a yard deep, will be an automatic touchback as well. Again, the purpose is to eliminate injuries that occur on this high-risk play for collision. It may seem silly, but a small part of gets it.
Now, with that said, at 41 years old, I have seen 3 of the greatest kick and punt returners in Cleveland Browns history. I grew up with Gerald “Ice Cube” McNeil taking them to the house in my earliest years of fandom. Junior High was Eric Metcalf dazzling would be tacklers as I will never be able to forget the time he took two punts for scores against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fall of 1993 at home. That game would go down as the last victory Bernie ever took part in, as he was cut from the team after the following weeks loss to Denver.
As good as those two guys were, the greatest of all time, in my humble opinion is Joshua Cribbs. It breaks my heart that Cribbs never truly got the love of the national media or the spotlight that he deserved because he played with the Cleveland Browns during their worst stretch in franchise history. In fact, as great as Cribbs was, he only enjoyed one winning season on the roster, in 2007.
It is with this spirit of kickoffs soon to be a thing of the past, I wanted to take this moment to remember the on-field career of Joshua Cribbs. I hope everyone can enjoy this fun trip down memory lane with one of the greats.
Joshua Cribbs was a multipurpose threat while playing quarterback at Kent State. As a Golden Flash, he is the all-time total offense leader with 10,839 yards. Other school records include rushing touchdowns (38), pass completions (616), pass attempts (1,123), passing yardage (7,169), touchdowns scored (41), and points scored (246).
He is one of only two true freshman in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) history to both rush and pass for 1,000 yards (the other being Armanti Edwards of Appalachian State). He is also one of only eight players in NCAA history to both rush and pass for 1,000 yards in at least of two different seasons. He is one of only four quarterbacks in NCAA history to rush for 3,500 yards and throw for 7,000 yards in his career.
Despite solid numbers in the MAC, Cribbs was not chosen in the 2005 NFL Draft; however, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cleveland Browns on April 29, 2005 and invited to come to camp for a possible spot on the team as a wide receiver. Despite years of bad quarterback play in Cleveland, he was never given a chance to compete or quarterback and instead, worked his butt off to learn a new position at wideout.
He was also designated for special teams, a move that would impact his entire career for the better.
The hard work paid off for Cribbs after just one season, Cribbs signed a six-year contract extension with the Browns following his rookie season that saw him averaged 24.5 yards per kick return, and his total of 1,094 return yards set a franchise record. He also took one all the way, which was a sign of things to come as in a game against the Detroit Lions, he returned a kick 90 yards for his first NFL touchdown.
The only thing missing was him as an offensive threat, as he never carried the ball on a Jet Sweep or any kind of run, and only had one pass reception. 2006 wasn’t much better in those categories with only 10 catches for 91 yards.
Where he really began making a serious impact was the kick return game. In 2006 he set a new franchise record for most kickoff yardage in a season, breaking the record he had set the year prior. Cribbs took off for 1,494 returns yards on 61 kick returns with a touchdown. He was one of the lone bright spots during a horrendous 2006 season.
In 2007, Cribbs exploded onto the NFL map as the Browns went 10-6 and there were more eyes on the team in general. Cribbs, added punt returns into this game with 30 of them for 405 yards and a touchdown. On the kick returning side, he had a career high of 1809 yards on 59 returns with 2 touchdowns. Cribbs was voted to the 2008 Pro Bowl as a kick returner for the AFC. Cribbs had one kick-return touchdown in each of his first three years in the NFL.
In 2008, Cribbs showed no signs of slowing down and kept the show going as he had a touchdown on a kickoff return, scoring on a 92-yard return versus the Baltimore Ravens in Week 9. It was the fifth kickoff return touchdown of Cribbs’s career. Cribbs also had a four-yard rushing touchdown against the Buffalo Bills in a Monday Night Football game. On November 26, 2008, after placing Brady Quinn on injured reserve, the Browns named Cribbs their emergency quarterback as he once again showed he could be the ultimate team player if needed. He finished with 1110 kick return yards on the season along with 228 punt returns yards.
2009 was a bad year for Cleveland Browns football, but one that gave Cribbs a few chances to shine in the darkest of times. Several times in 2009 Cribbs would do something outstanding that gave Browns fans at least a little something to puff their chest out. He had 3 touchdowns returning kicks, 1 touchdown returning punts, 1 touchdown on the ground and 4 receiving for a career high 9 touchdown season. He did it all!
On September 13, in the Browns’ home opener versus the Minnesota Vikings, Cribbs returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown, tying the team record for career returns for a touchdown (seven) with Eric Metcalf. Also, in that same game, Cribbs was named as a starting wide receiver for the first time in his NFL career.
On October 18, Cribbs returned a Pittsburgh kickoff for a touchdown, breaking the team record for returns for a touchdown. In this game he became the first NFL player to throw an interception and record a kick-off return touchdown in the same game since 1950.
On December 10, Cribbs led the Browns to victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, their first win over their rival in 13 games. Cribbs led all offensive players with 200 all-purpose yards, including 87 yards rushing out of the Wildcat formation.
On December 20, Cribbs returned two kickoffs for touchdowns against the Kansas City Chiefs to set and extend the all-time NFL record for most kickoff returns for touchdowns in a career. On December 29, Cribbs was named to the 2010 Pro Bowl for the second time in his career as the Browns’ and AFC’s representative as the kick returner. Cribbs was also named the Browns’ team MVP for the 2009 season.
Relations between Cribbs and the Browns soured at the end of the 2009 season, as negotiations on a new contract extension ended with a reported $1.4 million per year offer that Cribbs felt was insultingly low considering everything he did to help the team.
Tensions boiled over on January 7, 2010, when Cribbs cleaned out his locker at the Browns’ training complex and announced his intention to walk out on the final three years of his contract. The Browns were able to calm the storm and talk him into sticking around as on March 5, 2010, Cribbs re-signed with the Cleveland Browns with a three-year, $20 million contract.
Perhaps the off the field money drama caused an issue however, as 2010 was the first season he fell short of 1,000 kick returning with only 814 yards and no touchdowns on either kickoff returns or punt returns.
His biggest play of the season came week two at home against Kansas City. The Browns were in a close game with the Chiefs, down 10-7 in the second quarter when backup quarterback Seneca Wallace connected on a 65-yard touchdown pass to Cribbs to put the Browns ahead 14-13 in the second quarter. Two second half Ryan Succop field goals along with zero points from Cleveland would lead to the 16-14 loss.
2011 was another solid year for Cribbs despite a major rule change in the NFL. The 2011 season marked the year of the NFL’s rule change on kickoffs, shifting the position from the kicking team’s own 30-yard line to the 35. The move intended to prevent more returns due to the violent collisions that they sometimes yielded. Cribbs saw his return numbers dwindle somewhat from the rule change, and the market value for specialized return men has dwindled as well.
With his role as a kick returner having to take a 5 yard step back, he focused even more on other areas of his game and how he could help the team. Cribbs set a career-high of 41 receptions, 518 yards and four touchdowns.
He also had an 84-yard punt return for a touchdown. Cribbs would go on to play one more season, (2012) with the Browns, before leaving after the season for other avenues in the NFL. By the time he was done in Cleveland, Cribbs had 110 catches for 1,175 yards and 7 touchdowns. He ran the ball in the Wildcat formation or Jet Sweeps for 797 yards on 140 attempts with 2 touchdowns. 222 punt returns for 2375 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Now, none of those numbers would sell a single jersey, a single trading card or even get fans talking about him on social media. It was the 11,113 kickoff return yards along with an NFL record 8 return touchdowns that may never be broken with the new rules in place. Most of all, it was his heart that will forever be cherished by Cleveland Browns fans forever!
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